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Dental Tribune Middle East & Africa Edition | 1/2017 39 VITA shade, VITA made. VITA ENAMIC® redefines load capacity.* The first hybrid ceramic with dual network structure for unsurpassed absorption of masticatory forces VITA ENAMIC® • enormous load capacity since masticatory forces are absorbed • reduction of wall thickness possible to achieve restorations that are gentle on oral substance • highly precise and particularly accurate results • tooth-like material properties *) In addition to a high degree of elasticity, this innovative hybrid ceramic guarantees outstanding load capacity after adhesive bonding. www.vita-zahnfabrik.com facebook.com/vita.zahnfabrik 3522E New: VITA IMPLANT SOLUTIONS VITA ENAMIC® IS 3522E_210x297.indd 1 04.01.2017 09:13:20 But it’s different here ByChrisBarrow,UK Asabusinessconsultant,Ihavebeen providing training, coaching and mentoring services to UK and Irish dentists and their teams for the last 23 years. Additionally, I have had the opportunity to work with clients in a number of European and other countries, including Turkey, India, the US, Canada and Australia. I con- sider myself a bit of a rebel and love to talk about innovation in business and how it applies in dentistry and thewiderhealthcareenvironment. In this article for DTI I want to take you back to the mid-1990s and my fi rst experience of working with UK dentists, providing team training workshops all across the country. Inevitably,therewouldcomeapoint in one of those early workshops at which an attendee would raise his or her hand and, instead of asking a question, make a statement that came down to something like “Chris, this is all very good and exciting, but you need to understand that here in (insert place name) things are differ- ent.” Candidates for “insert place name” ranged from the valleys of southern Wales to the West End of London, from north to south, from crowded to thinly populated areas; references were made to cosmopolitan, sub- urban and rural communities. The speakerwouldelaborateandsuggest that whatever idea I was proposing would fall on stony ground because of the idiosyncrasies of the local population or macro- and micro- economiccircumstances. As a speaker, one learns to deal with such objections and concerns with empathetic listening and compas- sion, but I gradually realised that, in each of these locations, there were dentists who were just getting on with the job and enjoying great success, because they were either obliviousoforimmunetothoseself- limiting beliefs. Now, do not get me wrong here, if your dental practice is situated in a town where a signifi- cant proportion of the population is dependent on one major employer that then closes down, even the greatest optimist and positive think- er would have to take a reality check and respond. Thankfully, such eco- nomic disasters are relatively few in number. Most of the time, the afore- mentioned statements of difference are a self-fulfilling prophecy on the partoftheconferencequestioner. The caring speaker will try to engage theattendeeinmeaningfuldialogue, butexperienceshowsthat,sadly,the critic rarely wants to be persuaded away from his or her unfalsifiable hypothesis. Bringing this phenom- enon into the second decade of the twenty-first century, the most fre- quent use of the phrase “ah, but it’s different here” relates to the digital marketing landscape. Whenever I comment in writing or at a confer- enceontheexplosivegrowthofdigi- tal, there will inevitably be a listener who wants to tell me that people in his or her postcode are not on the Internet,donotusesocialmediaand do not have e-mail addresses. Mir- roring my earlier experience, I then meet dentists in the same location who are happily generating digital sales. A recent internal survey of my top clients (located across diverse geo- graphical and economic locations) revealed the startling fact that al- most 66 percent of their website visits were from mobile devices— smartphones and tablets—thus demonstrating that website appear- ance on a 27-inch iMac screen is no longer as important as how it looks onmobile. If I now refer back to the interna- tional locations in which I have had the opportunity to work, I can think of not one of the listed countries in which I would argue that the situa- tion is different. Perhaps the most notable of these is Pune in northern India, where I was privileged in Feb- ruary to deliver a two-day workshop to 50 dentists from that city and nearby Mumbai. Halfway through the morning on my second day there,anattendeerosetohisfeetand requested a hand mike and I knew what was coming: “Chris, we have all enjoyed your lecture so far, but you need to understand that here in In- diathingsaredifferent,”hesaid. I listened, acknowledged and then simply carried on, in the knowledge that Mumbai is now regarded as the health care tourism capital of the world,thattechnologyisinfluencing society as rapidly as anywhere and that the traditional Indian business modelofsole-traderdentistswithno nurse, no hygienist and no associate is rapidly being replaced by dental corporatesandretailers,asisthecase everywhere. In my original list of countries, there is not one excluded from the information and connec- tion revolution that is reshaping all ofourlives. People are people. The independent traveller of 50 years ago would have commented on diverse cultures. In 2016, the same traveller will com- ment on similarities, whether good or bad. The global village contains dental patients and they have simi- lar needs and expectations of value. So if you are looking for tips on how to improve your dental business, you now gain a global perspective whenobservingbestpractise. I have visited and worked with the best in all of the countries listed and found that no nation is behind the curve when it comes to innovation in the business of dentistry and we canalllearnfromeachother.Except, ofcourse,inyourplace—ifit’sdiffer- ent? An international perspective on the business of dentistry ChrisBarrowis the founderof7con- nectionsbusiness coaching.Anactive consultant, trainer andcoach to theUK dentalprofession,he regularlycontributes to thedentalpress, socialmediaandonline.ChrisBarrow canbecontactedat coach.barrow@7connections.com PRACTICE MANAGEMENT Dental Tribune Middle East & Africa Edition | 1/201739 3522E_210x297.indd 104.01.201709:13:20